When we saw Mike Rinder announce that he and Leah Remini were talking to Lucas Catton for their podcast this week, we reached out to him for an update on how things have been going for him.
Our readers have heard less lately than we used to from Luke, who at one time was president of Scientology’s flagship drug rehab facility, Narconon Arrowhead in Oklahoma. We first met him when he came to New York in 2013 to film an episode of Rock Center about Scientology’s deceptive rehab racket. And he was a key source for us on a lot of Narconon stories over the years.
That same year he was on Rock Center he put out a book and later pulled it from circulation (and then put out another book), but we hadn’t heard much from him recently. And we sure weren’t prepared for this update from him…
“The police were called on me over Labor Day weekend to do a welfare check on my kids. Obviously there wasn’t any reason for it, and I was confused and furious and had to find out who did it. I was eventually able to get a copy of the records and traced it back to a Scientologist in Clearwater who had called. To me that was a clear sign that there is still a lot more work to be done, and now they’ve kicked this hornet’s nest again.”
Yes, once again we have an organization calling itself a church falsely calling in government agencies on former members to try and get them in trouble over their parenting. No big deal. Doesn’t every church do it?
Scientology did the same to Jason Beghe and Marc Headley. It’s a favorite tactic of their dirty tricks department.
And now they’ve tried it on a person who hasn’t said much about them in a couple of years.
Genius tactics.
Anyway, we’re glad that Leah and Mike have talked to Luke for the podcast. You can listen to it right here…
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Another fun round with Jim Paris
Although your proprietor and radio host Jim Paris come from different political backgrounds, we sure have a lot of fun coming together over the subject of Scientology. Sunday night we had another fun time with Jim, and we hope you enjoy it as well…
“People look all the way through books of philosophers, the Bible, life, to find something that will agree with them. At first glance, they’re trying to look for something to agree with. Nah, they’re not looking for something to agree with, they’re looking for something on which they have sufficient experience to establish a certainty. And you go down and you get a book — old Will Durant’s book The Story of Philosophy — whenever you get it out of the library you’ll find page after page, underscore, underscore and an underscore here and an underscore there and exclamation points over in the borders and it’s all marked up, old copies of it. Libraries have to replace it every time they turn around. Because people in their great enthusiasm will underscore ‘God is good.’ Here these rather clever statements one way or the other which are quite profound and quite interesting of which somebody could be certain and then they pick all the way through. The thing they find ‘God is good.’ Fine.” — L. Ron Hubbard, November 3, 1953
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1997: The New York Times reported that a German Scientologist has been granted asylum in the United States. “A federal immigration court judge has granted asylum to a German member of the Church of Scientology who claimed that she would be subjected to religious persecution had she been required to return to her homeland, the woman’s lawyer and a Scientology official said Friday. While few details of the case were available, it is believed to be the first time the United States has given asylum protection to a Scientologist. The Church of Scientology has been waging a highly public international campaign against what it considers discrimination against its members by the German government.”
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“Opus Dei wields more political influence around the world than the Church of Scientology could ever dream of.”
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Full Court Press: What we’re watching at the Underground Bunker
Criminal prosecutions:
— Danny Masterson charged for raping three women: Masterson’s demurrer denied Oct 19, arraignment delayed to November 2.
— Jay and Jeff Spina, Medicare fraud: Jay’s sentencing set for October 29 in White Plains, NY delayed to January.
— Hanan and Rizza Islam and other family members, Medi-Cal fraud: Next pretrial conference set for Jan 12 in Los Angeles
Civil litigation:
— Luis and Rocio Garcia v. Scientology: Oral arguments were heard on July 30 at the Eleventh Circuit
— Valerie Haney v. Scientology: Forced to ‘religious arbitration.’ Petition for a writ of mandate denied Oct 22 by Cal 2nd Appellate District.
— Chrissie Bixler et al. v. Scientology and Danny Masterson: Nov 6 (motions to compel arbitration)
— Matt and Kathy Feschbach tax debt: Eleventh Circuit ruled on Sept 9 that Feshbachs can’t discharge IRS debt in bankruptcy. Oct 19: Feshbachs still considering further appellate relief.
— Brian Statler Sr v. City of Inglewood: Second amended complaint filed, trial set for Nov 9, 2021.
— Author Steve Cannane defamation trial: Trial concluded, awaiting verdict.
Concluded litigation:
— Dennis Nobbe, Medicare fraud, PPP loan fraud: Charged July 29. Bond revoked Sep 14. Nobbe dead, Sep 14.
— Jane Doe v. Scientology (in Miami): Jane Doe dismissed the lawsuit on May 15 after the Clearwater Police dropped their criminal investigation of her allegations.
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SCIENTOLOGY BLACK OPS: Tom Cruise and dirty tricks
The Australian Seven News network cancelled a 10-part investigation of Scientology and its history of dirty tricks. Read the transcripts of the episodes and judge for yourself why Tom Cruise and Tommy Davis might not have wanted viewers to see this hard-hitting series by journalist Bryan Seymour.
After the success of their double-Emmy-winning, three-season A&E series ‘Scientology and the Aftermath,’ Leah Remini and Mike Rinder continue the conversation on their podcast, ‘Scientology: Fair Game.’ We’ve created a landing page where you can hear all of the episodes so far.
LEAH REMINI: SCIENTOLOGY AND THE AFTERMATH
An episode-by-episode guide to Leah Remini’s three-season, double-Emmy winning series that changed everything for Scientology watching. Originally aired from 2016 to 2019 on the A&E network, and coming November 1 to Netflix.
SCIENTOLOGY’S CELEBRITIES, from A to Z
Find your favorite Hubbardite celeb at this index page — or suggest someone to add to the list!
Other links: Scientology’s Ideal Orgs, from one end of the planet to the other. Scientology’s sneaky front groups, spreading the good news about L. Ron Hubbard while pretending to benefit society. Scientology Lit: Books reviewed or excerpted in a weekly series. How many have you read?
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THE WHOLE TRACK
[ONE year ago] Add ‘The Last Samurai’ to Tom Cruise movies Scientology uses for themed fundraising
[TWO years ago] Never public: L. Ron Hubbard Jr.’s devastating 1972 takedown of his father and Scientology
[THREE years ago] EXCLUSIVE: DA’s office asked Leah Remini not to air episode about Danny Masterson
[FOUR years ago] Scientology strikes back at Leah Remini as publicity for her upcoming series explodes
[FIVE years ago] Ten years ago, ‘South Park’ rocked Scientology in a way it’s never recovered from
[SIX years ago] Dani Lemberger, who led a breakaway Israel mission, sues Scientology for libel and fraud
[SEVEN years ago] Sunday Funnies: Roslyn Cohn’s One-Woman Show Set to Skewer Scientology
[EIGHT years ago] Scientology’s Policy of “Disconnection”: A Mother’s Open Letter to Her Children
[NINE years ago] Tom Cruise and Baby Suri Embarrassed? This is Scientology, So Someone Has To Pay
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Bernie Headley (1952-2019) did not see his daughter Stephanie in his final 5,667 days.
Valerie Haney has not seen her mother Lynne in 2,109 days.
Katrina Reyes has not seen her mother Yelena in 2,613 days
Sylvia Wagner DeWall has not seen her brother Randy in 2,133 days.
Brian Sheen has not seen his grandson Leo in 1,153 days.
Geoff Levin has not seen his son Collin and daughter Savannah in 1,044 days.
Christie Collbran has not seen her mother Liz King in 4,351 days.
Clarissa Adams has not seen her parents Walter and Irmin Huber in 2,219 days.
Carol Nyburg has not seen her daughter Nancy in 2,993 days.
Jamie Sorrentini Lugli has not seen her father Irving in 3,797 days.
Quailynn McDaniel has not seen her brother Sean in 3,113 days.
Dylan Gill has not seen his father Russell in 11,679 days.
Melissa Paris has not seen her father Jean-Francois in 7,598 days.
Valeska Paris has not seen her brother Raphael in 3,766 days.
Mirriam Francis has not seen her brother Ben in 3,347 days.
Claudio and Renata Lugli have not seen their son Flavio in 3,608 days.
Sara Goldberg has not seen her daughter Ashley in 2,646 days.
Lori Hodgson has not seen her son Jeremy and daughter Jessica in 2,359 days.
Marie Bilheimer has not seen her mother June in 1,884 days.
Charley Updegrove has not seen his son Toby in 1,414 days.
Joe Reaiche has not seen his daughter Alanna Masterson in 5,965 days
Derek Bloch has not seen his father Darren in 3,114 days.
Cindy Plahuta has not seen her daughter Kara in 3,434 days.
Roger Weller has not seen his daughter Alyssa in 8,289 days.
Claire Headley has not seen her mother Gen in 3,408 days.
Ramana Dienes-Browning has not seen her mother Jancis in 1,764 days.
Mike Rinder has not seen his son Benjamin and daughter Taryn in 6,067 days.
Brian Sheen has not seen his daughter Spring in 2,173 days.
Skip Young has not seen his daughters Megan and Alexis in 2,575 days.
Mary Kahn has not seen her son Sammy in 2,447 days.
Lois Reisdorf has not seen her son Craig in 2,030 days.
Phil and Willie Jones have not seen their son Mike and daughter Emily in 2,525 days.
Mary Jane Barry has not seen her daughter Samantha in 2,779 days.
Kate Bornstein has not seen her daughter Jessica in 13,888 days.
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Posted by Tony Ortega on November 3, 2020 at 07:00
E-mail tips to tonyo94 AT gmail DOT com or follow us on Twitter. We also post updates at our Facebook author page. After every new story we send out an alert to our e-mail list and our FB page.
Our new book with Paulette Cooper, Battlefield Scientology: Exposing L. Ron Hubbard’s dangerous ‘religion’ is now on sale at Amazon in paperback and Kindle formats. Our book about Paulette, The Unbreakable Miss Lovely: How the Church of Scientology tried to destroy Paulette Cooper, is on sale at Amazon in paperback, Kindle, and audiobook versions. We’ve posted photographs of Paulette and scenes from her life at a separate location. Reader Sookie put together a complete index. More information can also be found at the book’s dedicated page.
The Best of the Underground Bunker, 1995-2019 Just starting out here? We’ve picked out the most important stories we’ve covered here at the Underground Bunker (2012-2019), The Village Voice (2008-2012), New Times Los Angeles (1999-2002) and the Phoenix New Times (1995-1999)
Other links: BLOGGING DIANETICS: Reading Scientology’s founding text cover to cover | UP THE BRIDGE: Claire Headley and Bruce Hines train us as Scientologists | GETTING OUR ETHICS IN: Jefferson Hawkins explains Scientology’s system of justice | SCIENTOLOGY MYTHBUSTING: Historian Jon Atack discusses key Scientology concepts | Shelly Miscavige, 14 years gone | The Lisa McPherson story told in real time | The Cathriona White stories | The Leah Remini ‘Knowledge Reports’ | Hear audio of a Scientology excommunication | Scientology’s little day care of horrors | Whatever happened to Steve Fishman? | Felony charges for Scientology’s drug rehab scam | Why Scientology digs bomb-proof vaults in the desert | PZ Myers reads L. Ron Hubbard’s “A History of Man” | Scientology’s Master Spies | The mystery of the richest Scientologist and his wayward sons | Scientology’s shocking mistreatment of the mentally ill | The Underground Bunker’s Official Theme Song | The Underground Bunker FAQ
Watch our short videos that explain Scientology’s controversies in three minutes or less…
Check your whale level at our dedicated page for status updates, or join us at the Underground Bunker’s Facebook discussion group for more frivolity.
Our non-Scientology stories: Robert Burnham Jr., the man who inscribed the universe | Notorious alt-right inspiration Kevin MacDonald and his theories about Jewish DNA | The selling of the “Phoenix Lights” | Astronomer Harlow Shapley‘s FBI file | Sex, spies, and local TV news | Battling Babe-Hounds: Ross Jeffries v. R. Don Steele
